I’ve always been a sucker for dark and brooding men in romance novels (hello Mr. Darcy!) One trait that seems to go along well with these types of characters is that they are loners in their own right. Yes, they may have friends and family around them, but their internal isolation is the first thing that they must overcome before they take on a new romantic interest. I find this struggle quite interesting, and therefore was excited to read The Loner by Kate Moore, which stars a loner much in the same predicament.

Will Sloan is a loner with a tough upbringing, coming from nothing and making a name for himself. His mother was a waitress and his father was a rodeo cowboy, killed in a tragic accident in the ring. The former scholarship student is now a wealthy tech entrepreneur, with a net worth in the billion dollar plus range. By all conventional accounts he shouldn’t have any shortage of friends, yet he still finds himself adrift amongst the party atmosphere of L.A., while his so-called friends urge him to get out and find Mrs. Right. He decides to attend his high school reunion on a whim in order to get out of this funk, and that’s when it happens: he sees Annie again. Continue reading →

We all make first impressions. Every time we meet a stranger we immediately form an initial opinion, whether it be good, bad, objective, subjective, or any other form. Sometimes, after meeting this person, his/her actions fall so far opposite to your initial impression that it simply astounds you. I myself am guilty of developing a wrong first impression. When I first met my husband, I felt he was a bit odd. Yet here we are, still blissfully happy after 9 years! Anyway, back to wrong first impressions. Such was the case with Beth Pride in Pride’s Prejudice by Misty Dawn Pulsipher, who after seeing a handsome man at a benefit auction soon realized he was in fact an arrogant and selfish idiot. Does her original assessment do William Darcy justice? First, some backstory:

At the Hartford College Children’s Benefit Auction, a chance to dance with Beth, along with other women in attendance, is auctioned off. Dejected after no one bids on her, her hopes are lifted when Darcy steps forward, only to be crushed shortly thereafter when he pays the bid and leaves her, telling her he only felt sorry for her. She then decides to never speak to this man again, but sadly her plans are foiled when her roommate Jenna begins to date Darcy’s best friend, Les. While they are again thrust into each other’s company, Beth continues to try and keep up her hatred of Darcy, but his looks and surprising banter make a serious attempt at breaking down that wall. She begins to rethink her original assessment of Darcy, but doesn’t want to fall for this handsome man a second time without seriously thinking it through. Will Beth’s pride (no pun intended) keep her from letting her true feelings out, or can she learn to trust this man who she up until recently has sworn off? Continue reading →

I recently read Havisham, your prequel and retelling of Charles Dickens Great Expectations, one of my favorite Victorian novels. Your choice to expand the back story of minor character Miss Havisham, the most infamous misandry in literary history, was brilliant. Jilted at the altar she was humiliated and heartbroken, living the rest of her days in her tattered white wedding dress in the decaying family mansion, Satis House. Few female characters have left such a chilling impression on me. I was eager to discover your interpretation of how her early life formed her personality and set those tragic events into motion.

Dickens gave you a fabulous character to work with. (spoilers ahead) Born in Kent in the late eighteenth-century, Catherine’s mother died in childbirth leaving her father, a wealthy brewer, to dote upon his only child. Using his money to move her up the social ladder she is educated with aristocrats where she learns about literature, art, languages and the first disappointments of love. In London she meets and is wooed by the charismatic Charles Compeyson. Family secrets surface in the form of her dissipated half-brother Arthur, the child of a hidden marriage of her father to their cook. Her ailing father knows his son has no interest in his prospering business and trains his clever young daughter. After his death, the inevitable clash occurs between the siblings over money and power. Challenged as a young woman running a business in a man’s world, Catherine struggles until Charles reappears charming his way into her service and her heart. About two thirds of the way through the novel the events of Great Expectations surface. Charles abandons her on their wedding day and she sinks into depression. Continue reading →

I must say, out of all of the derivatives of Pride and Prejudice variations that exist in this realm (yes, also including the erotica variety), I never thought I’d come across a steampunk version. When one thinks of steampunk, one envisions gears, motors, and mechanical technology that are as far removed from the refined halls of Pemberley as one can get. However, such is the beauty of the Pride and Prejudice variation subgenre: anything that can connect to the original work, no matter how slight it may be. It is up to the reader to decide whether or not such a connection was warranted in the first place! So, it’s no surprise that I was quite intrigued when given the chance to review Steampunk Darcy by Monica Fairview. I just had to know how such juxtaposition would work out.

William Darcy has a special fondness for his ancestors, the very real Mr. and Mrs. Fitzwilliam Darcy of Pemberley. Although it has been many years since they lived, Mr. Darcy comes upon a unique opportunity to immortalize their beloved Pemberley as it once was after the current version of it was destroyed during a great uprising. Now, the world that has arisen from these ashes is that of a steampunk variety, and Darcy’s Pemberley is a blank canvas he can work with to restore its former glory. He hires Seraphene Grant, an expert in restoration (who also happens to own a blimp-like airship), in order to assist with the project. Although his intentions seem genuine, Seraphene is cautious towards Darcy’s actions, and she intends to steer clear of anything that isn’t strictly related to the project. Will she be able to hold back in this new world or will Darcy’s mix of tradition and steampunk creativity get the best of her? Continue reading →

As if reading about the continued lives of our favorite characters from Pride and Prejudice and that of their children is not fascinating enough, send one Georgiana Bingley to seminary in France, throw in a murder with the rumor of a werewolf, and you potentially have something quite interesting. Such is Marsha Altman’s Georgiana and the Wolf, the sixth installment of her Pride and Prejudice Continues series. If you have not read any of the previous books then you are in luck as this one, though connected via Georgiana, can stand on its own without any confusion that reading a series out of order can cause.

Inspector Robert Audley has been pulled off a case in Paris and ordered to a small country town where the Marquis de Maret is rumored to be a werewolf and a murderer. With his engagement to Lady Heather Littlefield threatened by these rumors the marquis is eager for Inspector Audley to put an end to them. But things quickly become complicated as “the famed inspector of Paris” Audley uncovers a tangled web of clues that point to not one but two killers as more are found dead, and finds that Lady Littlefield’s companion Georgiana Bingley seems to be far more adept at gathering information than he.

Georgiana Bingley is the daughter of Charles Bingley and Jane Bennet, but little is made of this. All that is familiar to the avid Austen fan goes largely by the wayside because even though Georgiana is central to the story, where she comes from, who her family is, and any dowry attached to her is of little significance to this story. Continue reading →